Snivellus I'm Sorry
by thegirlwiththegreenhat
Summary: When Severus snaps and retaliates, ending up punching James flat in the face, he wonders how he could have done such a thing. An unexpected friend appears out of the blue and listens to him. Rated T because the Nargles told me to.
1. Chapter 1

Severus flipped through his Potions book, scribbling in new notes and trying to figure out how to improve a rather advanced potion recipe to make it even easier. The textbooks always made the recipes impractically difficult. No wonder Lily used to ask for his textbook all the time, it was filled with notes, scratched out lines and replaced with better techniques of brewing the ingredients together. He sighed and shut his book as he put his things away.

"What's Snivellus doing? Sticking his big nose in another book?" sneered a familiar voice. He didn't bother to look in James' direction as he stood up and walked away cooly. James followed closely behind, accompanied by Sirius, Remus and Peter. Severus sighed and ignored them, walking in the direction of the castle. When would they ever just leave him alone?

After a few snide comments to him sincerely from James, Severus turned and faced him, giving him a poisonous glare.

"I'm not in the mood, Potter," he spat. For a moment a foreign expression crossed James' face. Surprize and amusement mixed with... fear? Was James.. afraid of him?

But the expression changed almost as fast as it had appeared to a snide smile and James laughed in his face.

"Does it look like I care, Snivellus?" he sneered.

"James, let's just go," Peter said from behind Remus. Severus noted that Peter was always in the back of the pack.

"Why?" James turned to Peter, amused, "scared of him?"

Peter sighed, "No! It's just.." he trailed off. James rolled his eyes and turned back to Severus.

"Why so upset? Did you finally realize Lily will never date you?" James laughed.

Severus snapped and punched James hard in the face, causing James to stumble back, a look of shock plastered onto his face. James' nose began to bleed, a trickle of crimson blood beginning to worm it's way down his face.

"Shut. Up," he spat.

While Sirius, Lupin and Peter were too stunned to act, Severus ran up the castle steps and rushed through the great oak doors. What had he just done? He had never punched anyone before..

_But he deserved it._

The voice nagged him at the back of head. He had to admit it was true, James crossed the line. There was still a nagging voice in his head, coming up with excuses for what he had done as he walked down the hallways in no specific direction.

_He has been bullying you your whole life._

_He has been a jerk to everyone._

_He said you'd never be with Lily._

_He's taking her away._

Severus stumbled into an empty classroom, hoping noone followed him. He just wanted to be alone for once. He sat on a desk and sighed. It made him feel even worse that he didn't regret punching James. He remembered the look on James' face. Shock. He'd never seen that on him before. And before that, when Severus snapped at him, he was afraid, even for just a second.

What was happening?

Severus heard a shuffle of feet. "I'm going to kill him," James muttered as he shuffled past, presumably to the hospital wing.

He froze and sat there until he was sure the coast was clear. He silently opened the door and was ambushed by Sirius and Remus. Severus cried out as he was shoved back into the classroom.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thanks sooo much for the reviews! It means a bunch! Hopefully you enjoy this chapter and await the next! I apologize if this chapter is smaller than the last. I just have exams soon and my energy or motivation to do anything is gone.**

"Sorry about that," Remus said after the dust of the ambush settled, "James is in the Hospital Wing." All Severus could do was nod. His head was still spinning. "We told James that we had come here to beat you up," Remus continued, "Not like we were going to, or anything. He didn't want us to hurt you."

Sirius gave Remus a look that made Severus think he wasn't supposed to know that. He pretended that he didn't hear that, but it made him wonder.

_He obviously just wanted to make sure that his friends didn't get expelled._

_But you punched him in the nose!_

_Still, James is protective over his friends._

His argument was cut off by the sound of his own voice saying, "Thank you." Both boys turned to him and looked a bit shocked, but Sirius nodded. "You're welcome. We'll just tell him that we couldn't find you."

"We should go now, see how he's doing," Remus turned to Sirius, grinning. Sirius grinned and nodded and they walked out, leaving Severus behind. He left after them, going in the opposite direction to the Slytherin Common Room. The only way Potter could get in there was by convincing some giggling first-year Slytherin girls to open the portrait hole for him. And with James' reputation, that was likely to happen. He trudged up the stairs to his room and flopped onto his bed, sighing.

The next day at breakfast, James didn't glare at Severus, nor did he ignore him. Every once in a while Severus caught James looking at him before James could look away. James' expression was unreadable, but it still sent shivers down his spine. Did he hate him?  
_'Course he does, you idiot._  
He avoided looking over at the Gryffindor table all lunch and dinner, afraid to meet eyes with him. When James gets the chance he'll probably put a hex on me, Severus thought, not eating his dinner at all. He was afraid he'd puke it all up later, his stomach swirled uncomfortably. He felt as if his stomach were doing a barrel roll in his belly and it felt as if he would release his breakfast any minute. He rushed out of the Great Hall halfway through dinner, holding his stomach. He bumped into Sirius in an empty hallway and breathed out several "Sorry"s. Sirius chuckled a bit until he saw Severus was paler than normal.

"Are you alright?" he asked, genuine concern on his face. Severus felt his face turn pink and looked down.

"I-I'm fine," Sev blurted out and ran past Sirius before he could say anything else.


	3. Chapter 3

For the whole week Severus stayed in the Slytherin common room, only coming out for classes, dinner and occasionally head to the library for some reading. He avoided the Gryffindors as a whole, in classes with them he sat on the far side of the room away from them. He acted as if they were a bad smell, as if he sensed them but couldn't see them. He even avoided Lily, which he usually did now since she hated his guts. He didn't want to run into Sirius again or catch James glancing at him. "What's with them?" He thought to himself, revising his Potions homework in the library, next to a musty window. He tapped the desk with his fingers lightly, trying to muster up some concentration. He heard the library door open and glanced over to see who it was. His heart fluttered rapidly, it was Sirius Black. And he was looking around. Before Severus could be spotted, he grabbed his book and dove behind some bookshelves, making his way around the outside of the room towards the door. His heart was racing as he tried to stay silent.

Severus wasn't exactly sure why he was avoiding Sirius. He was sure it was that incident in the hallway, when Sirius seemed generally concerned about him. Sirius seemed to sigh and walk over to the opposite side of the library and grabbed Quidditch Through the Ages. Severus stayed completely still, sat stupidly behind a bookshelf. A group of giggling Hufflepuff girls were glancing at Sirius. Sev rolled his eyes and got up to run towards the door when he tripped on a cat, presumably belonging to one of the Hufflepuff girls. He made such a racket falling on his face. He got up quickly and rushed out before Sirius could act all concerned again. He was sure James or someone was using Sirius to make a fool of him. They were doing a great job so far.

He strode quickly through an empty hallway when he heard someone following him. He turned around and saw Sirius himself, holding his stuff.

"You left these in the library," he said, handing the books to him. Severus was suddenly tongue-tied, but he willed himself to mutter a pathetic thanks. Sirius nodded and smiled, "No problem. And watch out for cats next time, Snivellus." Sev felt his face turn a bright red and his ears go pink. He put the books in front of his face, wanting to melt through the floor and die. I'd be better than admitting he liked Sirius.

"Are you alright?" Sirius asked, leaning against the wall.

All Sev could do was nod. He walked away to the Slytherin common room and plopped onto his bed, sighing.

The next day at breakfast, James' glancing became more frequent. Severus sighed and concentrated on eating his bacon, but he lost his appetite. The day afterwards was a wreck. Breakfast was going normally until..

"YOU PROMISED!" Sirius yelled at James. Everyone looked over as the two boys stood up and began to pelt eachother with punches and kicks. "YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE MY FRIEND!"

"I CAN'T!" James yelled back, "Not when you like.. him."

He pointed a shaky finger at Severus and the whole Great Hall looked over at him.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Long time, no post! SORRY! I've been busy as hell. Enjoy the chapter!**

Severus froze, turning paler than usual. This had to be a joke. Some cruel trick. It had to be. He could feel his cheeks flush and he got up and managed to bang his knee against the table. He didn't curse, though, he was too scared to open his mouth in fear of vomiting because he was so nervous. Lily stood up across the Great Hall and looked from Sirius to Severus, her face as pale as Severus's. Severus, as he normally did, strode out. If James and Sirius were trying to make a fool of him, they were doing a good job so far, Severus thought.

He turned around when he heard footsteps following him. His embarrassment quickly turned into anger as he saw Sirius standing there. "GET AWAY FROM ME! This is some sort of sick joke! You want to make a fool of me again? Not anymore! I'm done! THIS HAS GONE WAY TOO FAR!"

Severus glared at Sirius. Sirius merely sighed. "Severus," he said softly, "James bullied you because he knew I liked you. He didn't like it. He wanted me to begin to hate you. To despise you. It didn't work. Severus..."

Severus allowed himself to breath, to think. He couldn't move or think. Butterflies spawned in his stomach and his hands got all sweaty. He felt like he used to feel around Lily. Severus locked eyes with the handsome boy across from him. The guy all the girls chased after liked him... how?

"I love you, Severus Snape."

He ran up to Sirius and locked lips with him, feeling the warmth of the boy wrap around him, letting all of his doubts float away. Sirius placed his hands in Severus' soft hair and tugged lightly. Severus never wanted to leave Sirius, but just as they locked onto each other, Lily came into the hallway.

Sirius pulled away and the two boys looked at Lily. Severus' mouth felt dry.

"Lily- " he said, turning red.

She stood there, open-mouthed for a moment. Then she spoke, "You're a cute couple." She smiled. "I'm happy for you, Severus, Sirius."

Severus blushed a deeper crimson, hoping he would suddenly burst into flames and melt away. The embarrassment was unbearable for him.

Lily smiled and nodded, "I should go, you two have fun."


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Sorry for the short chapter! I was all in the writing mood until halfway through! Enjoy!**

The next day at breakfast in the Great Hall, a hushed silence fell over the crowd of students eating pancakes and bacon when Severus and Sirius walked in together. They weren't holding hands, but when Severus sat next to Sirius at the Gryffindor table, everyone knew. James had a scowl plastered on his face as Sirius sat between James and Severus. After a few rather awkward moments everyone talked again, as if nothing happened. Some students whispered to each other and giggled, glancing at the two boys. Needless to say, most of them were second-years in the house of Hufflepuff.

Severus was blushing a deep color of crimson. Sirius, however, was as calm and cool as usual. Severus wondered how Sirius could be so calm about everything all the time. He shook his head, abandoning the thought as he picked at his breakfast plate.

As they left the Great Hall, Sirius pecked Severus on the cheek. "See you in Herbology," he said, winking at him. Severus stood there as the crowds of students gushed past him. He stared at the spot where Sirius stood only seconds before. He still couldn't believe Sirius genuinely liked him. But there was something nagging at the back of Severus' mind. James would find a way to part them, somehow. He had this feeling, a nagging at the back of his mind. Severus sighed and made his way to Potions with the Ravenclaws, figuring he'd be late if he didn't hustle soon.

He wanted the class to be over to see Sirius no matter however reluctant he was to see James.


End file.
